Mark,Lucia,Idan, and Ernesto
Mark's Pokemon would each get healed up after a bit of waiting. He also let Able out of her ball to fly around and do a bit of stretching. After sitting down, it wouldn't be long before Lucia would fly in flailing her arms around and rushing right too Mark.
Mark just backed up a little as Lucia seemed to be shouting her discoverys right in his face. She was literally holding onto his cheeks and going into panic mode. Mark checked listened to his translator and had alot of trouble taking in all of that information. He leaned closer to Lucia, not wanting to confuse his new friend or get him involved in the whole mess. He had a habit of getting them hurt that way.
"...w-what? Devon? Team Rocket? Lucia that sounds kind of far fetched... but, apparently the Machine in that abandoned house vanished a little while ago... I doubt the teachers are in on it. They're too smart to do something like that to trainers but if theres more spies back there..." Mark paused and placed a hand over his head.
Idan was sitting by the entrance ot the pokemon center, thinking about the past day. "Well, Leo, i'll guess we sleep here today" He said to his pokemon. "Wait, what on earth is she doing?" he asked himself. What he saw wasn't an illusion. It was a Porygon-z, spazzing out in panic and mumbling next to a guy. The guy said "Team Rocket? Devon..? You think Devon is involved in this?" While the porygon shouted.
Idan finally stood up, walked to the guy and said "Sounds like trouble. Devon and Team Rocket...and spies. Whoever you are, count me in. I'm Idan, from Suicune dorms, nice to meet you. Is that your Porygon?"
Ernesto walked into the Pokemon Center, still holding his Magnemite in his arms. There was a short line of trainers in front of the counter, and he patiently waited for his turn. Mark was in front of him, and after he got his Pokemon healed, he walked over to a table. Nestor handed his Magnemite and Llamas over to the nurse. He was still thinking about the intense battle he and Mark just had. *I'm sure we'll improve a lot by studying here* he thought. Ernesto was so deep in thoughts, he didnt realize the commotion behind him.
After the nurse returned the Pokeballs to Ernesto, he turned around and saw Mark talking to some guy. *Hmm maybe another student or a friend of Mark's?* He decided to walk over and introduce himself."Hey there!" he said "I'm Ernesto Kolten, a student at the Academy".
Mark apparently was talking way too loud for his own good. Another student seemed to overhear them and just go with whatever they said. Ernesto didn't seem to catch onto it thankfully but now Mark was in a situation where he may end up getting more students involved then he'd hope for. "Wait, hang on. Lets take a step backwards for a minute. And speak quieter. If what you say is true, how do you know you're not being watched? Where did you get that kind of information Lucia and how do you know its true?" Mark asked.
Idan wondered what he got himself into. Looking at both the guy and the potygon, they looked weird. "Hmm..maybe it's a reveres psychology system and they are spies...?" He thought to himself. "So what did you say was your name again?" he asked. "And is that your porygon you talking too or he just happened to seizure next to you?" He suddenly saw someone walking up there,introducing himself as Ernesto. "Hello, are you a friend of this guy?" Idan asked suspiciously.
Lucia glared back at Mark, "Listen here, maybe you shouldn't talk so loudly!?" The Porgyon paced about as that boy continued to try and chat with Mark. Not only that, but another student had to come on over and Lucia groaned REALLY loudly. "Well so much for stealth Mark!" She said as she pointed finned arm right at her friend, "They can't hear me but they can hear you fine and clear! So, technically, there can be no percentage of blame placed upon me." She said as she crossed her fin arms, "And I know cause I saw this girl that Valorie knew, and she was a smeargle and knew all this info about Devon! It just makes sense Mark!"
"Hey man, could you tell your porygon to shut up for a sec and sum up all those things for me? It sounds really important, i might try and investigate that." Idan said.
Part of Mark didn't want to believe it. Because one girl said something, that was immediately all the evidence they needed? Unless this girl is the same child that went missing. The fact that the girl ended up being a smeargle would mean she was transformed as well. But Mark still had trouble putting the facts together.
"Woah woah woah woah, everyone just shut up for a second..." Mark said as he sat down and took some time to adjust his thoughts. He spoke a little quieter. "So, your telling me that you investigated town, found a girl that Valorie happened to know which turned into a Smeargle, And the prototype we're after was also created by Devon?" Mark said, basically explaining everything to those that decided to get involved.
"This sounds crazy. It makes sense but its hard to believe... gahh... I remember when school days were simple. Heh." Mark said.
Ernesto had no clue at all as to what was going on. They were talking about a lot of things he had never heard before. The guy that was standing with Mark asked if Ernesto and him were friends. Just as Ernesto wanted to answer, he was interrupted by Mark, who began to speak again about a bunch of weird happenings.
Nestor looked at Mark ant listened very carefully, trying to get the whole picture together. Apparently, a girl had turned into a Smeargle, and some kind of machine built by Devon played an important part in it. *People that turn into Pokemon?* Nestor thought. *Never heard of such a thing happening before. And why are they being so low-profile about all this?* Those were just a few of the questions going through his head. Not knowing if he should ask for more details or not, Nestor decided to stay quiet for now. Maybe he would understand more as the conversation kept going? *If not, i'll just ask Mark later...*
Idan kept quiet, putting a whole picture piece by piece. "So apearently there are students that are now pokemon, and this guy is trying to revert it" He asked himself. For now, all he knew is that this Porygon-z had something to do with did. He decided to start a converstation with the 2nd student. "Hello, i'm Idan from suicune dorms, and you?"
The other boy suddenly looked at Nestor and introduced himself. His name was Idan, and he was a student as well, from the Suicune dorms to be exact. "Hey, nice to meet you Idan!" Ernesto replied, "I'm Ernesto from the Raikou dorm, just arrived today." *Hmm Suicune dorm...dad said the most talented students reside there*. This meant Idan had to be both very skilled in battle and intelligent. "So...a girl that turned into a Smeargle huh?" Nestor said, trying to get more information on what exactly happened. "That's very weird..."
The student said he was Ernesto. He was from Raikou, and by the looks of him he didn't know if he had failed the battle test or the written test. The name sounded weird, like it is foreign, but Idan didn't respond because he didn't want to make the new friend uncomfortable. "So yeah, smeargle, heh? So what, did you try to find a way to revert her situation back to normal?" Idan asked. "I guess that if we can find the machine or whatever it is that turned her into a pokemon, by reversing the polarity of it,we can reverse the issue". he added.
Mark shook his head. "No no no its more complicated then that. That's exactly what we were trying to do but the Prototype we're looking for is gone, possibly taken by Devon for all I know. A couple other students were turned into Pokemon, along with Lucia over here." Mark said, pointing to the Porygon.
"You guys just arrived didn't you? Then you two probobly haven't caught news of that raid on Team Rocket's base on the island. We were succesful but alot of students got transformed. Devon is supposed to send a machine over to help get all of the students transformed back into their bodies. If Devon is in cahoots with Team Rocket though, then who knows what they're sending? But... I dunno. I still think we need more evidence of the whole thing." Mark said.
*Alright finally!* Ernesto thought. Thanks to Mark's explanation, he finally knew why a girl had turned into a Smeargle. And apparently the Porygon Z was a person as well! *That's crazy...* Team Rocket - that name rang a bell. His grandpa had told him about them: A criminal organization that wanted to use Pokemon to become rich and powerful. There were a few incidents here and there in Johto, but nothing major, at least not as what was apparently happening on this island. *And i thought i would just be hitting the books around here* went through Ernesto's head.
"Alright, i guess we can't really trust Devon then" Nestor started to say. "I've just arrived and all, but if there is anything i can help you with, I'm in." He wasn't sure if this was all a bit too much for him, but he definitely did not want to be left standing on the side line. And after all, people and class mates were Pokemon now, and something had to be done!
"Okay, count me in, Mark and...Luica-z." Said Idan, perhaps a little tactlessly. "I'll do anything i can to help. I don't know why is Devon in this with team Rocket, but i do know this is a threat to the school and perhaps the entire region, and thus must be eliminated." Idan exclaimed. "Hmmm...so i guess we're an investigation squad now, right? I did want to socialize a little more here." Idan thought to himslef, "But can my pokemon be up to the task? Am i being to risky?" He hesitated a few second before claiming: "Alright, for all the pokemon and people out here, let's start!"
Lucia stared on and slowly floated to where Tyro casually leaned against the wall. She made her way to an unoccupied area of the wall and proceeded to start banging her head against it, soft clangs being heard as her metal body made contact with the brick foundation. The Blaizken looked at her and sighed, "And the best laid plans of Men and Minccino go awry." He said simply.
Lucia stopped banging, "It was supposed to be very simple." She said. "Oh but no, spill the beans Mark!" She hissed as her little fin arms flailed about. She turned to face the group, "So let me guess the next part, we form a crime fighting team and battle evil doers on our jet plane? Never mind the fact that ROCKET SPIES could be here!?" She clutched her head, "Dear Arceus, I'm becoming my mother already... look Mark, we need to probably get, oh I don't know, into a secret place of sorts, you know, some place where we CAN'T be overheard?" She floated lower to the ground and tapped an arm against the ground almost like one would tap their foot in annoyance, "Well?"
Mark nodded. "Look, you think the three of us alone can just go and tackle some kinda conspiricy? If something happens to the three of us, someone has to know about it. Someone is bound to overhear us anyways, which could lead to rumors being spread around. Could make a nice distraction. But yeah. We should find somewhere else to talk about this. Hrmm..." Mark thought about a good location to hide out in.
"Actually... I might know a good spot. Me and my old friends found a really nice place not to far up the mountains awhile back. We wanted to use it as a secret base of sorts. There was even a nice berry patch up there too. If you don't mind a bit of hiking we can set something up over there." Mark said.
"Hiking is fine, as long as we have discretion there. We don't want Rocket grunts or even students hearing us". Idan said. "So, show the way".
Mark was definitely right. If this was as big as he thought, someone might have overheard their conversation, which would have very bad consequences. "A spot up in the mountains sounds good" Ernesto said "I dont think anyone would be able to spy on us there. I dont mind walking either, so after you."
Ernesto was getting really excited. He had been on the island for what, 4 hours now? And he had already made a few friends, fought in a Pokemon match and now he was in some kind of "detective" group to help out people that turned into Pokemon. *Well, life here seems to be more exciting than in Olivine.* Then he suddenly remembered he still had Conor's Poliwag with him. *Aw crap, i should meet up with him before i go somewhere else!* Ernesto thought.
With all the things happening, he had totally forgot about their meeting. He also wondered if Conor was aware of Team Rocket and that Devon machine. *Maybe he wants to help out as well? I should ask him...*
Lucia sighed and hung her head, "Well, fine." She looked up at Mark, "But I'm not held liable if they are attacked." She insisted. "Hm... balls now. Er... pokeballs. You know what I mean!" She said to Mark as she held out her fin hand. "I figure if I'm stuck like this I might as well get back into the habit of using them."
Mark blinked at Lucia for a moment until she clarified that she wanted her Pokeballs. Guess it's make sense. Mark handed over Lucia's Pokeball belt so that she could hang onto those. She can transform now thanks to mimicing Xerox so hopefully she could take on a form that could carry them easier. "Don't worry, if anything happens then its all on me Lucia. Just stop me if I end up making another stupid choice." Mark said. He had a habit of having the worst luck in the academy. He had no idea why but the worst things seemed to happen around him.
"Hey, mark, why is 'Lucia' holding pokeballs?" Idan asked. "Well, nevermind. Hey Nestor, got any preperations to do before we leave? I'm going, you can both join if you want." He didn't wait for an answer, and started walking throught the streets of Oak town. While wandering he finally found what he was looking for: A shop that sells beds! "Finally, gosh. I thought i'll never find it". And with that, Idan walked into the shop, and asked to deliver a bed for him to his room at the dorms. "Why do you need a bed, young man?" the girl at the counter asked him. "Ummm..you see..." He called out Leo, who shot out a little ember." "Oh." The shopkeeper said. "Well, we'll deliver it for you." she said.
It looked like everyone was about to split up to get their own things done. Idan was already through the door, and it seemed like Mark was talking to the Porygon. "Hey Mark, i have to meet up with this other Student, Conor. He gave me his Poliwag and we wanted to leave Oak Town together." Ernesto explained. "I'll just go ahead and look for him, and I'll see you guys at the exit gates alright?" Mark seemed fine with it, so Ernesto grabbed his stuff and exited the Pokecenter.
As he walked through Oak Town, Nestor started to process everything he had just experienced. Team Rocket was no joke, that was certain, and after all they were just kids right? *But Mark said they raided their HQ and were succesful...so maybe they are strong enough?* Nestor had seen what Mark was capable of in battle. Where the others just as strong as Mark? Maybe even stronger? *I guess i'll be finding out soon enough* he thought, excited.
In the distance, he saw someone who looked like Conor. Ernesto started to walk faster, anxious to tell his friend about everything that had happened. With the battle and everything, he didnt let the Poliwag and Claws play as much as he wanted them to. *Oh well, there is always another time for that* Ernesto thought, as he almost reached the street light Conor was waiting at.
As the rest of the group started walking to the hiding spot, they were atopped by Idam who ran to catch up with them. "Just had to arrange a thing".
Mark looked over to Idan as he returned. Probobly just grabbing supplies or something like that. Mark was all set to start their hike but someone seemed to be missing. "Uh... Lucia? Where's Val?" He asked.
Lucia suddenly paused in mid float and blinked, "Well... s**t."
